US stocks traded mixed on Monday supported by better than expected pending house sales data and a decline of crude prices. S&P 500 added 0.14% or 1.85 points and closed at 1,367.59, Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.01% or 1.44 points to 12,981.5, while Nasdaq Composite index climbed 0.08% or 2.41 points and finished at 2,966.16.
Gold futures decreased during the Asian session on the softer physical demand as well as on stronger Euro. Gold changed its usual inverse move to the US Dollar and now showed more direct relationship with the greenback's fluctuations. COMEX gold April contract traded at 1,769.25 US Dollars per ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, losing 0.32%.
Crude oil prices sank during the Asian session as market sentiment was dampened due to sharply rising energy prices and consumers' attempt to restrict oil buying for exorbitant price. Light, sweet crude oil April contract traded at 107.98 US Dollars per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, losing 0.53%.
European stock markets closed lower on Monday, pushed down by G-20 statement Euro Area should increase the financial fire-power by itself and only then call for more help. Nevertheless, losses were partly offset by better than expected pending home sales data in US. Stoxx Europe 600 index FTSE 100 each slipped 0.3%, German DAX fell 0.2% and French CAC 40 index tumbled
Canadian currency traded close to parity against its US peer for a fourth consecutive session as oil prices declined and US stocks advanced. Loonie was little changed versus US Dollar and traded at CAD 0.9990. Currently USD/CAD is trading at CAD 0.9955. Strategists claim the price close to parity is a reasonable value for Canadian currency.
Standard and Poor's downgraded Greece's credit rating to selective default after the country agreed on the 70% debt reduction with private bondholders. The rating agency cited that terms of the deal escalated concerns over Greece's inability to repay its debts. However, S&P announced it would increase Greece's rating to CCC after the debt swap is complete.
Euro Zone's M3 money supply increased more than initially projected last month, reported the ECB. The M3 money supply jumped by 2.5% on a yearly basis in January as compared to a 1.5% growth in December. Economists expected the M3 money supply to rise by 1.8% last month. Meanwhile, private sector loans increased by 1.1% on an annual basis, being
Traders still have high confidence in the commodities, with 56% of investors planning to incase exposure in the commodity markets in three years. Moreover, about a half of those surveyed by Barclays Capital projected positive price trend for the commodities. Further, 22% of the respondents named crude oil as the best performer this year while gold and copper was chosen
Natural gas prices fell during the volatile sessions on Monday as investors are preparing to switch to the April contract and mild weather forecasts in the US continued to create pressure on the commodity price. Natural gas March contract traded at 2.61 US Dollars per million thermal British units at the late US trade on Monday, on the New York
Italian bonds advanced sending the yield to a 11-month record low before ECB's second release of loans with 3 year maturity. The borrowing costs for Italian two year bonds slipped 15 b.p. to 2.68%. Germany also faced record low yields for its benchmark 10-year bonds as the borrowing rate declined to 2.92%.
The EC warned Cyprus, Spain, Bulgaria, Luxemburg, Romania, Estonia, Slovakia and the Netherlands to raise competition in the energy sector otherwise it will bring a case to the ECJ. The EC demands countries to separate energy generation and its distribution to stimulate competition in the sector. Warned countries have to meet requirements till 3 March.
New Zealand and Australian Dollar slightly depreciated against Japanese Yen on concerns downgraded Greece still has to struggle to tackle its sovereign debt woe. Aussie gave up 0.2% versus Yen to JPY 86.57 while Kiwi slipped 0.3% to JPY 67.54. Currently AUD/JPY is trading at JPY 86.89 and NZD/JPY is trading at JPY 67.79.
US pending home sales rose more than initially expected last month, approaching the highest level in almost two years, according to industry data. The pending home index added 0.2% last month as compared to a 1.9% fall in December, reported the National Association of Realtors. Analysts predicted the sales to grow by 1.0% in January.
Japanese Yen strengthened versus most of its counterparts on Tuesday on speculations Japanese exporters repatriated funds rapidly and the recent decline was to sharp. Japanese currency climbed 0.4% against US Dollar to JPY 80.29 and appreciated 0.1% against Euro to JPY 107.89. Currently USD/JPY is trading at JPY 80.62 and EUR/JPY is trading at 108.42.
Japanese retail sales increased more than projected in January on the soaring car sales due to subsidies on the energy efficient vehicles. Retail sales grew by 1.9% on an annualized rate while car sales surged by 24%. The surge followed government's incentives such as subsidies aimed at boosting domestic car demand as Japan's car producers were severely harmed by the
Spain failed to fulfil its target budget deficit ratio for year 2011, putting pressure on government to seek news ways of reducing debt. Although the deficit eased from 9.3% of GDP in 2010 to 8.5% in 2011, it still is above set target of 8.0%. The official deficit target rate in EU is 6.0%. EU set an aim for Spain to reach
German Chancellor Angela Merkel gained the German lawmaker support for Greece rescue package after alerting parliament that eliminating Greece out of Euro Zone could create indeterminable damage. 496 members parliament voted in favour, 90 voted against and 5 abstained. Merkel also pointed out the fiasco could negatively affect whole EU and world economy.
German DAX index traded lower on Monday after G-20 countries said Germany should put more effort to contain region's debt crisis instead of just requiring additional money from IMF. German car makers lost ground on news Chinese government prepares to stop purchasing foreign made cars. BMW AG and Daimler AG led the losses tumbling 3.6% and 3.4% respectively. Deutsche Luft
British FTSE 100 index tumbled 0.9% on Monday, driven by financial shares after G-20 delayed aid to Europe and recommended region to expand its own financial firewall before borrowing from outside. Essar Energy PLC fell 9.5% after reporting a USD 881.1 million pre-tax loss for year 2011. HSBC lost 3.8% after heavyweight financial institution posted USD 21.9 billion pre-tax profit,
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average ended Monday Asian session slightly down as the upward movement was limited by surging crude prices and signals the market might be overbought. Although exporters kept collecting gains from weaker Yen, Nikkei 225 slipped 0.14% or 13.45 points and finished at 9,633.93. Inpex Corp fell 2.5% while Nikon Corp dropped 1.7% and Olympus Corp. tumbled 3.3%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell on Monday, ahead of German vote on Greek rescue package amid increasing concerns about the effect of high crude prices on the global economic expansion. Hang Seng index fell 0.88% or 189.00 points and finished at 21,217.86. Cathay Pac Air and Esprit Holdings posted the biggest losses, declining 4.4% and 3% respectively. On the
Dow Jones Industrial Average index closed almost unchanged on Friday with sector returns making relatively tiny movements. Blue chip index slipped 0.01% or 1.74 points to 12,982.95. The main gainer was American Express which added 1.3% though the company reported FDIC is going to take measures to fight late fees on some charge cards. Hewlett Packard prolonged its downward momentum
Asian equities traded mostly down on Monday trade as investors were concerned regarding rapidly growing oil prices. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index both dropped 0.9% while South Korea's Kospi index tumbled 1.4%. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average slipped 0.1% whereas China's Shanghai Composite was the only major stock index that ended on the positive side, advancing 0.3%.
S&P 500 index traded slightly higher on Friday, supported by US economic data including better than expected consumer sentiment and new home sales. However, gains were limited as climbing oil prices raised investor concerns. US stock index added 0.17% or 2.28 points and closed at 1,365.74. Sears Holdings extended its gains and jumped 10.5%. On Thursday the company said it